Goss to Install New Universal XL in Italy

By: E&P Staff Italian commercial printer Union Printing of Viterbo, north of Rome, will take delivery in July of a new-generation Goss Universal press to provide quality coldset printing of supermarket flyers and inserts at lower costs.

With a doublewide, one-around cylinder format, the Universal XL was developed to meet demand for smaller circulations of high-pagination products. The wider format will allow Union Printing to meet its output requirements with fewer webs and towers, while maintaining the efficiency and versatility of one-around production.

With sheetfed, web and digital presses, Union Printing produces a full range of products, from brochures and art books to heatset inserts and flyers. According to owner and Managing Director Roberto Pepponi, the decision to investigate alternative coldset configurations was driven by a desire to achieve a lower price for customers struggling to maintain standards with reduced budgets.

Union Printing's Universal XL will consist of two towers, 68 inches wide with a 23.12-inch cutoff. Equipped with a 1:3:3 and a 1:2:2 folder, each with one former and a quarterfold, it will run at 40,000 copies per hour, printing multiple paginations in production modes of four to 16 full-color tabloid pages straight and 16 to 32 full-color tabloid pages collect.

Further features specific to this installation include: blanket wash and color and register controls, as well as additional turner bars above the four-high towers to cut the web in up to four ribbons before entering the folder. The press will be configured in a T90 layout, with reelstands at right angles to the press.

Although Goss International has not supplied Union Printing in the past, initial meetings indicated an open approach to the printer's challenge and led to creative discussions of a wide range of options, according to Pepponi. "At no point did they try to convince us that we're taking the wrong approach or try to sell us a more expensive option," he said in a statement. "Going from heatset to coldset, we needed to ensure a clean print and maintain color impact and consistency."

For lower-cost, high-productivity printing of flyers, inserts and editorial publications, in runs up to 40,000 copies, the press had to be modern, reliable, flexible, easy to use and capable of quality work. Union Printing chose the Universal XL after reviewing all options and testing on different stocks.